Wedding Melee Leaves Families In Jail, Hospital

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. -- An old-fashioned ``Hatfields and McCoys`` style melee erupted at a wedding reception when relatives of happy couple could not agree on when to cut the wedding cake.

By the time the smoke cleared, the groom, his brother and both of his parents were in police custody and the bride and her mother were in the hospital trying to recover from the matrimonial excitement.

Police said the fighting erupted Saturday when members of the wedding party began arguing over when to cut the wedding cake. One witness said the fun really started when one of the bride`s brothers began beating up the groom.

Police officers from Middletown and Newport and state troopers from the Portsmouth barracks were called to the scene. One officer described the action as a ``case of the Hatfields and the McCoys.``

The groom, Barry Bouchard, 25, of Tiverton, his brother and best man, Robert Jr., 29, and father, Robert Sr., 53, are charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing police and resisting arrest. His mother, Adele, is charged with obstructing police.

Police said the bride, Michelle Bouchard, was taken to a hospital by ambulance when she started to hyperventilate. Her mother, Patricia Longley, 47, passed out during the action.